What are Urban Studies (US)?
Cities are the engines of economic development, innovation, and culture, but they also face considerable challenges. Inequality, housing costs, congested roads, and sustainability are important challenges for the future well-being of our society, but they are nowhere more urgent than in urban areas.
Urban Studies is an interdisciplinary field that develops solutions to these issues by exploring the social, political, economic, and environmental processes that shape cities to improve urban living. Urban Studies scholars collect data through interviews, document analysis, and surveys, and analyze it using quantitative methods and geographical information systems (GIS).
Why Earn an Urban Studies Certificate?
South’s Urban Studies program prepares students for careers in urban planning, policy analysis, community development, and public administration. Students gain practical, analytical, and policy skills. Through an internship and hands-on, place-based coursework, students learn to address real-world urban challenges and can build expertise valued by employers and graduate programs.
The program complements majors across the social sciences, business, environmental studies, public administration, geography, and planning by providing students with the following highly in-demand skills:
- Policy analysis
- GIS mapping
- Data visualization
- Urban research
- Community engagement
- Professional writing
- Who Should Apply?
Who Should Apply?
The program was designed for students majoring in Geography, Political Science, Sociology, Environmental Studies, and Public Administration who want to obtain an additional stackable educational credential for careers in an urban-related field.
The program allows students from these majors to gain theoretical and practical skills commonly used in planning and governance, ranging from urban planning theories to the use of Geographical Information Systems for urban development projects.
Career Pathways
Graduates with an urban studies certificate are employed with local governments, housing organizations, and transportation agencies. They work in urban and regional planning, nonprofits and community development, emergency management, economic development, GIS and spatial analysis, sustainable planning, consulting, and education.
Program Structure
Undergraduate Certificate
The Undergraduate US Certificate program consists of a minimum of 10 required credits, a flexible 1-4-credit internship, and a 3-credit elective course.
| Course | Credits | Recommended Semester |
|---|---|---|
| GEO 114: People, Places, Environment | 3 | Year 2: Spring |
| GEO 414: Urban Geography and Planning | 3 | Year 3: Fall |
| GEO 463: GIS for Business and Urban Analysis* | 4 | Year 4: Fall |
| Urban-Related Internship | 1-4 | Year 3: Summer |
| Elective Course | 3 | Years 3 or 4: Spring |
* Students must take GIT 460: Introduction to GIST before they can enroll in GIT 463
ARH 304 Ancient Greek Art and Architecture
ARH 306 Roman Art
ARH 346 American Architecture 1600-1940 -W
ARH 415 Gothic Architecture
CJ 374 Race, Ethnicity, and Crim Just
CJ 471 Police Account and Community
GEO 417 Health and Place
GS 301 Solidarity and Social Change
GS 304 Contemporary Social Movements
HS 475 Public Health
HTM 410 Sustainable and Eco-Tourism
HY 390 Special Topics
HY 437 Modern US II Since 1945 - W
HY 477 The Old South
PSC 401 Public Administration
PSC 461 Environmental Politics and Administration
PSC 462 Collaborative Environmental Governance
SY 406 Sociological Theory
SY 411 Population - W
SY 421 Social Stratification - W
Graduate Certificate
The Graduate US Certificate program consists of a minimum of 11 required course credits, a flexible 1-4-credit internship, and a 3-credit elective course.
| Course | Credits | Recommended Semester |
|---|---|---|
| GEO 514: Urban Geography and Planning | 3 | Year 3: Fall |
| GIT 560: Introduction to GIST | 4 | Year 3: Spring |
| GEO 563: GIS for Business and Urban Analysis | 4 | Year 4: Fall |
| Urban-Related Internship | 1-4 | Year 3: Summer |
| Elective Course | 3 | Years 3 or 4: Spring |
HY 531 Studies in U.S. History
HY 532 Colonial America
HY 529 Studies in Latin Am. History
HY 534 The Early Republic
HY 536 Modern U.S. I 1877-1945
HY 537 Modern U.S. II Since 1945
HY 538 20th Century U.S. History
HY 551 Medieval Europe
HY 552 Renaissance Europe
HY 557 Studies in European History
HY 559 Modern European History
HY 561 Studies in Asian History
PSC 501 Public Administration
PSC 510 Intergov-Interorg Relations
PSC 511 Crim. Justice Admin. edited Course
PSC 537 Legislative Process in the US
PSC 550 Public Budgeting and Financial Management
PSC 560 Comparative Public Admin
PSC 570 Administrative Law
PSC 572 Environmental Law
PSC 580 Public Policy Analysis and Evaluation
PSC 581 Public Policy and Aging
PSC 583 Social Construction of Policy
SY 501 Disasters and Society
SY 506 Sociological Theory
SY 511 Introduction to Population
SY 512 Applied Sociology
SY 521 Poverty, Inequal/Social Stratification
SY 523 Aging in American Society
SY 528 Gender and Society
SY 530 Sociology of Culture
SY 540 Deviance and Social Control
SY 550 The Community
SY 566 Social Impact Assessment of Coast Environments
SY 567 Environmental Sociology
HS 562 Drug Use and Abuse
How to Apply?
Students apply for the certificate upon completion of the required coursework. No enrollment is required.
Please fill this form out in the semester you are completing your last course(s) for the Urban Studies certificate and return it to the Department of Earth Sciences Office. This application must be turned in no later than Monday, April 25th. Certificates may be delayed up to one semester for applications received after the 25th.
For questions, please contact the Urban Studies Certificate program coordinator, Dr. Fabian Terbeck.
Dr. Fabian Terbeck
Assistant Professor for Urban Geography and GIS
Department of Earth Sciences
(251) 460-6381
fterbeck@southalabama.edu